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When a woman is publicly shot in Chinatown, Goren and Eames discover that both the victim and her killer were at Tiananmen Square during the massacre in 1989. When realizing that the ex-PLA soldier would not have killed someone due to that fact, they investigate an elaborate scheme to smuggle ancient Chinese artifacts into the United States. The investigation then turns to a wealthy woman who spent much of her life in China and is now a collector of such artifacts.

George Weems: My last gig. I was the plump and happy raisin in a snack food commercial. Am I in trouble?

Alexandra Eames: You tell us. You checked into a hotel under an assumed name, forged papers were delivered to your room, an associate of yours is suspected of murdering a woman.

Robert Goren: You don't look so plump and happy now, George.

Alexandra Eames: Look what we have here. Forged documents.

Robert Goren: Why in the world would you spend so much money for forged documents?

Ms. Mobray: I thought it would be fun to have them.

Alexandra Eames: We think it would be fun if you accompanied these gentlemen down to our offices.

Robert Goren: And it never occurred to you that something illegal was afoot?

George Weems: I'm an actor; I'm constantly broke. It was a few nights at the Saint Francis, it sounded like fun.

Robert Goren: Fantastic.

Robert Goren: This must be some kind of situation you've got on your hands.

Stuart Gaston: Why do you say that?

Robert Goren: You've loosened your tie, you've got a drink on your desk, you've got three phone lines blinking, and you're chewing the inside of your cheeks like some kind of frantic chipmunk. Are you under a lot of stress?

"Aha. Illegal baking."

– Alexandra Eames, after Goren asks her to inspect the contents of an oven.

Robert Goren: This type of calligraphy, the elongated character, the sharp brush strokes, is in the Imperial style of early Qing dynasty, 18th century. It evolved from the thin gold calligraphy developed by the Emperor Huizong.

Alexandra Eames: He got that off his box of Wheaties this morning.

"We are discreet with innocent victims. If they behave like innocent victims."

The episode name "Chinoiserie" is a French term that refers to a recurring theme in European artistic styles since the seventeenth century, which reflect Chinese artistic influences. It is characterized by the use of fanciful imagery of an imaginary China.

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square led by labour activists, students, and intellectuals in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The demonstrations centered on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, but large-scale protests also occurred in cities throughout China, including Shanghai, which stayed peaceful throughout the protests. In Beijing, the resulting military response to the protesters by the PRC government left many civilians dead or injured. The reported tolls ranged from 200–300 (PRC government figures) and to 2,000–3,000 (Chinese student associations and Chinese Red Cross). (Source: Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 at Wikipedia)